Scam artists tugged at a grandmother's heartstrings and nearly made off with everything.

Ellie Mowery said she prides herself on being a sensible woman, but admitted when it comes to her family, she is willing to do just about anything to help them.

Scam artist were counting on that when they phoned her home on Oct. 7.

Mowery answered to a desperate cry for help. "It was a garbled message like he was in a great amount of distress and he said, 'grandma?'"

Immediately, she asked, who she thought was her grandson, if he was okay.

In response, she got a carefully crafted sob story from an impostor.

"It was such a bad connection and enough background noise that it could've sounded like him," said Mowery,

When she agreed to help, a police impersonator got on the phone to explain that her grandson was in jail for riding in a car with a drunk driver.

Mowery was told $3,000 would get her grandson out of trouble.

"It was scripted very well," Mowery said most grandmothers would fall into the trap. "If you have a grandson ... you will bite."

She pulled the money out of her bank account and started toward SW 44th and Pennsylvania Avenue.

Mowery said she was sent to a business there that could help her put the money on to gift cards - that would allow for any easy transfer with the card's PIN.

"By now I am thinking this is pretty strange." She said she was torn on what to do, "I'm a very common sense person but I'm an emotional person too."

Luckily, she stopped short of the business and spoke to a friend who warned it was probably a scam.

She took her money back to the bank and called police. She was told it was the second time someone reported such a scam in a week's time.

"The man said what they [scam artist] want someone exactly like you who cares enough and has the means right then to help," Mowery agreed and is now trying to warn others who could be vulnerable to the same scam.

"Stupid people can't come up with this stuff, and the sad thing is that the criminals who are so intelligent don't use their intelligence in a positive way," said Mowery